Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov says that the decision on the next round of mobilization in spring will be made in March.

"It is critical for us to have a strong efficient army ready to defeat the enemy. And, it goes without saying that the major part of this army should consist of career servicemen. The more career soldiers it has, the more capable the troops will be. It is an axiom, and I think that no one will argue with that," the NSDC Secretary said.

According to him, the Ukrainian government has resorted to a significant increase of the defense budget in 2016 in spite of all the economic problems, in order to boost the recruitment of career servicemen.

"March is the milestone for us to take a decision on mobilization. If we see that the growth in number of contract soldiers is sufficient to provide the required manpower in our army, we will hold off the mobilization and keep it as a reserve, which will be used in case of escalation of the Russian aggression," Turchynov said.

He also recalled that the military conscription was another reserve. "The additional available reserve is our conscripts, those young people, who are called up for military service. But there is a strict requirement: the conscripts are not sent to serve in the ATO area. The General Staff and the Ministry of Defense are strictly observing this condition," the NSDC Secretary said.

At the same time, Turchynov assured that demobilization will take place within a set time period. "Our goal is to make the most of the demobilized soldiers to be replaced by professionals, thus increasing rather than decreasing the capability of our army," Turchynov concluded.Источник: https://en.censor.net.ua/n377316